Odawara Castle

A beautiful castle I believe it’s the third largest in Japan. Inside there’s a museum with impressive samurai style pieces, as well as ceramics from the era that were found and restored. The surroundings are stunning, with a huge open field and an entrance that looks straight out of a movie. The view from the top is great not as spectacular as Osaka Castle, but still amazing. If you go early around 8am, you can take much better photos since there aren’t many people. Overall, a really beautiful and memorable place to visit!

A great attraction and sightseeing spot. There’s a ¥500 entrance fee, which is more than worth it. Inside the castle there’s a museum with lots of cool samurai exhibits. At the top, you get a beautiful view over the city and out toward the ocean, especially nice around sunset. Definitely worth checking out.

I've been to all the "top ten" Castles in Japan this one is in the middle of the pack but still awesome. Great historical value and a great history lesson inside as you walk through, it's like a museum as well. You can go outside in the main keep and has a great view. There is also a ninja exhibit and small samurai museum if you pay a little more.

There are two types of tickets: the standard one, which gives you access to explore the castle and enjoy the stunning panoramic view from the top, and the Samurai ticket, which lets you dive deeper into Japan’s warrior history with traditional armor and photo zones. The castle itself is beautifully restored, surrounded by peaceful gardens and full of history. If you ever visit Hakone or the area around Mount Fuji, make sure to stop by,it’s absolutely worth it. 🇯🇵🔥

Odawara Castle is a beautiful, peaceful spot with some of the most breathtaking views from the very top. Once you're up there, you can take in wide views of the land and the sea—it’s honestly stunning and absolutely worth the climb. The atmosphere is calm and not overly crowded, which made the whole experience even more enjoyable compared to some of the busier castles. You can get a bundled ticket that includes entrance to both the castle and the nearby Samurai Museum, which is a great option if you’re interested in diving deeper into the history. Inside, many of the historical displays have English translations, which was helpful for navigating and learning more about the site. As for payment, they accept cash, Visa, and PayPay, which is convenient. Just outside the castle grounds, you’ll find some snack vendors selling shaved ice and other quick bites note that these are cash only. There are also several vending machines and quiet little spots with benches where you can sit, rest, and take in the view of the castle and its surroundings. Overall, it’s a calm, scenic, and culturally rich experience. Definitely worth adding to your itinerary.

Located west part of Kanazawa prefecture, a historic town that developed as a castle town for the hojo clan during the sengoku period. Even though castle is rebuild by Japanese government (after destroyed due to environmental disaster) we can still feel the samurai flames. Ninja museum, samurai museum and observation deck are main attractions points Another 15 mins of from castle towards sea side we can find good store they serve delicious fish cake + Japanese traditional sake drink Access: the area is well established so we can reach easily by tokaido Shinkansen, tokaido main line and Odakyu line. From Odawara station, it’s 10 to 12 mins of walk Price or cost of tickets: I recommend to take 2 or 3 days Hakone pass so people cover Hakone and Odawara both Odakyu company provide a best offers for visit these location

Odawara Castle is a beautiful and historically rich site located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The castle is a reconstruction of the original fortress that once served as the stronghold of the Hojo clan, one of the most powerful samurai families during the Sengoku period. Its elegant white walls and multiple tiers stand proudly above the city, offering a striking view from afar. Visitors can explore the castle grounds, which are spacious and well-kept, with traditional gates, stone walls, and a surrounding moat that add to the atmosphere. Inside the main keep, the museum provides detailed exhibits on samurai culture, weapons, and the history of the region. The climb to the top floor rewards you with panoramic views of Odawara city, Sagami Bay, and even Mount Fuji on a clear day. The park around the castle is especially famous for cherry blossoms in spring, drawing many visitors for hanami. Seasonal flowers and cultural events make it a lively place throughout the year. Overall, Odawara Castle combines history, culture, and scenic beauty, making it a worthwhile stop for travelers exploring the area.

Odawara Castle in the Hakone area is an impressive build; in fact, it's one of the tallest castles in Japan. As you walk towards it, the scale is quite impressive. Once inside, you can climb stairs all the way to the top, but before getting there, on every floor you'll be gazing at different graphs and objects, and even a few videos that describe this castle's history and it's importance in the context of the history of Japan. After reaching the top, there is a terrace surrounding that floor, so you can step out and enjoy the views, but also, the compound around the castle. This is a structure that has been destroyed several times and eventually neglected when it lost its importance. Eventually, the community started a movement to get the government to aid in its reconstruction. Hopefully, the last missing part, the palace, will also be rebuilt sometime. A visit to this castle is a must if you are heading out to Hakone.

Odawara is a castle that was the home of various feudal Japanese lord families, beginning with the 12 C. Doi clan during the Kamacura historical period. After a revolt in 1416, the castle fell into the control of the Omori clan. Later, the Odawara Hōjō clan improved and expanded on the fortifications as the center their feudal lands, which included what is known as the Kanto region. The Kantō region is a geographical region of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. The region includes the Greater Tokyo Area. Odawara Castle was recently restored and reinforced to resist earthquakes. It is surrounded by a moat and a series of walls and bridges than run West, to the South and East, and are blocked North by the mountains. Sections of the moat have hundreds, maybe thousands of lotus pants.

Odawara castle is a famous tourist spot in Odawara city, Kanagawa prefecture. Odawara station which Shinkansen stops is close to this. We can get inside the castle and see great city view of Odawara from the top. In addition, the entrance fee is 510 yen for adult. We can get "Goshuin" (handwritten sign and stamp of shrines and temples) at here. They have two versions of Goshuin. They offer them at the ticket window of the entrance. It is on the top of the staircase as the approach to the entrance of the castle. They offer the Japanese paper which has already written and stamped. So, we have to paste it to own Goshuin book. They charge 300 yen per one. In addition, we have to pay the entrance fee and get inside if you want Goshuin. Details about Goshuin is below. http://60ee3107.starfree.jp/goshuin.html 小田原城は神奈川県西部の有名な観光名所です。 東海道新幹線の小田原駅のすぐ近くにあります。 お城の中に入って見学が出来ます。 また、天守閣からの眺めは素晴らしく、小田原の街並みを一望出来ます。 なお、入場料は大人510円です。 ちなみに、au PAYが使えました。 この小田原城でも御朱印を頂戴する事が出来ます。 私が訪れた時は戦国時代版と江戸時代版の2種類ありました。 入口の階段を登り切ったところにある入場受付にて頂けます。 料金は1体300円です。 御朱印については下記のリンク先にまとめてあります。 http://60ee3107.starfree.jp/goshuin.html

7th tallest castle in Japan. Odawara is accessible by a Shinkansen. Very short ride and ideal for a day trip from Tokyo. They have some English guide available and if you want, you get to dress up like back a few hundreds years ago with some fees. Some signs are in English but most displays were only available in Japanese. Arriving at Odawara with my suitcase, I couldn't find large size coin locker available at the train station. Fortunately when I stopped by the visitor center, they had a coin locker available for 500 yen and they were refundable! Much cheaper than the one I saw at the train!! Castle is well maintained and since this place is not that big, two hours is adequate.

Easy access from Odawara station and only 1hr+ from Tokyo. This is quite good destination for those who are non history buff looking for some cultural dose. Although the main tower is a replica, it does give you an idea and feel what would've looked back in Samurai days. Inside of the tower is a museum with lots of presentation and some artifacts. Kindly there are English translations along with them. If you don't have time to travel further west to check out castles like Nagoya, Matsumoto, Osaka or Himeji, this is a good alternative as you can make a day trip. Admission is ¥500.

This is definitely a ride to get to you. From West Tokyo it takes about two hours to do on the train. However when you get there it's a quiet little town, with friendly people. Views from the castle are amazing

This was our first stop from Tokyo on a day trip to Hakone, partly because a travel guide suggested you only needed about 30 minutes at Odawara Castle. While that may be true, it doesn't take into account the walk to and from the station or the stuff you might want to see around Hakone that also closes early, so read on to see if you should visit! Odawara station is about 30-40 minutes from Tokyo station, and the trip is free with your JR rail pass, making it a good quick excursion if you have a couple of hours to kill. You can buy either a ticket just to the castle (about 500 yen), a combined ticket including the Spirits of the Samurai exhibit (600 yen), or a ticket including the castle, the samurai gallery, and a local history museum (700 yen). I'd suggest the castle & gallery option, but 100 yen is pretty cheap if you think you might want to check out the small museum on the grounds (we didn't). Prepare yourself for STAIRS. There's a steep stone stairway just to get to the castle entrance, and from there you'll climb four more sets of stairs to get to the rooftop view payoff. They try to sweeten the deal by including historical exhibits along the way, but man, that is a lot of stairs. The view at the top is pretty great, though, and you can walk all around the balcony for some excellent pictures. I didn't see any elevators, so this is probably not suitable for anyone who can't handle a significant amount of fairly steep and sometimes irregular stairs, especially in bad weather. We were surprised at how modern the inside was. I think we were both expecting something more like Nijo-jo, with wooden floors and painted screens and tatami mats. Nope. The interior is brightly lit, painted white, with carpeted floors, which was a little disappointing. They explain in the adjoining samurai gallery that when they retrofitted the castle against earthquakes during a remodel, it ate up some of the museum display space, which is why the samurai armor and swords were moved into a separate outbuilding. They should probably just charge one flat fee for both, but you should definitely pay the extra 100 yen to check out five full suits of armor, a cool animated video, and some swords and accessories of the samurai lifestyle. Is it English-friendly? Sort of. Some effort was made to include signage and explanations in English, at least for the main overview signs and bigger displays, but most of the artifacts, videos, etc., are presented with Japanese-only descriptions. It's still enjoyable to look at the swords, pottery, roof tiles, and so on, but don't expect full English-language signage. Outside the castle, there's the previously mentioned samurai gallery, a snack shack, and a gift shop that includes a dress-up costume rental if you want to release your inner samurai. They have kid and adult sizes available, though the costumes looked a little lower in quality than, say, the kimono rental shops in Kyoto. If you have a dream of kimono dress-up and you're going to Kyoto, I'd say wait for that instead. Overall, a fun side trip as part of our day trip to Hakone. If I were to do it again, I'd get an earlier start out of Tokyo (because so many things in Hakone close early) and do Odawara on the way back, allowing about an hour of castle time. But if this is your one chance to check out a castle, Odawara is an easy and accessible half-day trip from Tokyo.

Its a beautiful trip on the Shinkasen and an awesome day trip. I recommend it for anyone. A beautiful walk and visit through history and incredible view of the ocean. Everyone should do this

This castle is not as lavish as you might be use to seeing here in japan. The grounds are nothing spectacular & the castle is all one color...white. It still is an incredible visit and well wotrth your time if you are looking for a place to visit if your looking for a one day trip from Tokyo on the Bullet train.

A great place to stop coming back from Hakone, My girlfriend and I had our luggage with us after leaving an inn that morning. Definitely recommend keeping your rolling luggage somewhere if you want to visit here, though we were lucky enough to keep them with a nice lady in the building leading up to the castle. Once you are up by the castle there's a small store for souvenirs, a monkey cage, and a couple ice cream stands. The castle is pretty great to look at and while there's a big tree to the left of the main view you can still take some great photos basically any time of day. You can even dress up as a samurai and a Japanese girl in a kimono great to do if you have kids.

Not as big as some of the other castles, but still well kept and fun to visit. As usual, be prepared to climb some stairs, sometimes steep and in tight areas. Inside the castle, the views are pretty good. Outside of the castle, there's a grounds area with picnic tables. A snack shop is near by that sells pretty good red bean soup.